Mark Turnham Elvins OFMCap (26 November 1939 – 1 May 2014) was

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of Greyfriars, Oxford, until its closure in 2008.

Life

Mark Turnham Elvins was born on 26 November 1939 in

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...

, the son of an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest who had been rector of St Mary in the Castle, Dover. Elvins was educated at Dover College, St Stephen's House, Oxford,

Beda College The Pontifical Beda College () is a Catholic seminary in Rome. It was founded as the ''Collegio Ecclesiastico'' at the Palazzo dei Convertendi in 1852 by Pope Pius IX and is intended for older men, often convert clergymen, wishing to prepare fo ...

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

, and

Heythrop College Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with soc ...

, where he earned his Master of Arts (MA) degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He received a Graduate Diploma in

Spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

at Milltown Institute, Dublin. At the beginning of his career, he passed into the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

but opted for the Territorial Army, serving with the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

and eventually reaching the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Royal Army Chaplains' Department The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army. History The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...

. In civilian life he began by working as a gallery manager at St James's Gallery,

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a One-way traffic, one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing r ...

, London, and as assistant editor of ''

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company and publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John ...

Peerage''. Following his theological studies at St Stephen's House, Oxford, he was ordained an Anglican deacon. On 24 December 1968 he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a priest in Arundel on Easter Sunday 1973 and was assistant

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at Arundel Cathedral and

Chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

priest to the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

from 1973 to 1979. From 1980 until 1990 he served at St Mary Magdalene's parish church in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, holding additionally the post of Chaplain to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners of the City of London. From 1990 until 1993 he was parish priest of

Henfield Henfield is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, northwest of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester at ...

. In 1999, he was professed in the

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the ...

and was a Provincial Definitor from 2006 to 11. During the academic years 2005–2007 he was the Roman Catholic chaplain to the University of Central Lancashire. Following the retirement of Nicholas Richardson in 2007, Elvins was appointed warden of Greyfriars, Oxford, and upon the dissolution of the permanent private hall was appointed guardian of the friary (Greyfriars) from 2008 to 2011. Throughout his life Elvins was particularly concerned for the

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

and was the founder of Simon House in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(1967), the St Thomas Fund for the Homeless in

(1980) and Becket Homes in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

(1997), as well as being a co-founder of the Thomas More Legal Centre. In 2011, he founded Regina Palestinae (Our Lady of Palestine), a charity for the support of poor families in Palestine. In 1982, Elvins was appointed an Ecclesiastical Knight of Grace of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

and chaplain and council member of the British and Irish delegation of the order. In 2003, the order awarded him the Gold Benemerenti Medal. He was also a chaplain of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta. In 2007, he led a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of

Henry Benedict Stuart Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (6 March 1725 – 13 July 1807) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, and was the third and final Jacobitism, Jacobite heir to pub ...

at the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

in London. The Heraldry Society holds an annual Mark Elvins Lecture. On 16 April 2008, the Rt Revd Dom Geoffrey Scott OSB, Abbot of Douai, spoke on "The heraldry of James II and his cult".

Death

Elvins died on 1 May 2014, aged 74, from cancer.

Publications

* Mark Turnham Elvins (Mark of Whitstable), ''A Eucharistic vision and the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi'' (Leominster: Gracewing, 2007), *M.T. Elvins (Mark of Whitstable), ''Gospel chivalry: Franciscan Romanticism'' (Leominster: Gracewing, 2006), *M.T. Elvins, ''Catholic trivia: our forgotten heritage'', illustrated by John Ryan (Leominster: Gracewing, 2002; previously published London: HarperCollins Religious, 1992), *M.T. Elvins, ''Our Lady and the Ecumenical movement in the light of her maternal patronage: a paper given to members of the Canterbury branch of the Society on 27 September 1997'' (Wallington: Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2000), *M.T. Elvins, ''St. Thomas Becket and the homeless'' (London: Buckland, 1994), *M.T. Elvins, ''"St." Thomas of Dover: monk and martyr'' (London: Buckland, 1994), *M.T. Elvins, ''Towards a people's liturgy: the importance of language'' (Leominster: Gracewing, 1994), *M.T. Elvins, ''Cardinals and heraldry'', illustrated by Anselm Baker, foreword by the Archbishop of Birmingham ( Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville), preface by

John Brooke-Little John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little (6 April 1927 – 13 February 2006) was an English writer on heraldry, heraldic subjects, and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947, while still a student, Brooke-Little founded the Soc ...

( Norroy and Ulster King of Arms) (London: Buckland Publications, 1988), *M.T. Elvins and Teresa Searle, ''Drugs: how the Church can help'' (Great Wakering: McCrimmons, 1987), *M.T. Elvins, ''The Church's response to the homeless'' (Great Wakering: Mayhew McCrimmon, 1985), *M.T. Elvins, '' Arundel Priory, 1380–1980: the College of the Holy Trinity'' (London: Phillimore, 1981), *M.T. Elvins, ''Bayham Abbey 1182–1982: its founder and his family'' (Hove: Chichester Diocesan Fund and Board of Finance, 1981), *M.T. Elvins, 'Oxford University Heraldry Society', ''The Coat of Arms'' NS 4.119 (1981), *M.T. Elvins, ''Old Catholic England'' (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1978),

References

External links

Biography
marymagdalen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 12 July 2014

constantinian.org.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2014
'Oration by the Vice-Chancellor', ''Oxford University Gazette'' supplement (3) to no. 4818
3 October 2007, pg. 100

''The Ark'' 187 (Spring 2001). Retrieved 12 July 2014

Papers on Proposed 5th Marian Dogma. Retrieved 12 July 2014. *[http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/marian/mary-ecum.htm Mark Turnham Elvins, 'Some Reflections on Our Lady and The Ecumenical Movement in the Light of Her Maternal Patronage', ''Papers on Proposed 5th Marian Dogma'']
Heraldry Society Annual Programme 2007/2008
theheraldrysociety.com. Retrieved 12 July 2014

Scuola di Spiritualita website. Retrieved 12 July 2014

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvins, Mark 1939 births 2014 deaths 20th-century British Anglican priests 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century British Roman Catholic priests 20th-century British theologians 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British Roman Catholic priests 21st-century British theologians Alumni of Heythrop College Alumni of Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Alumni of the University of London Alumni of University of London Worldwide Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism British male non-fiction writers British Roman Catholic writers Capuchins Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Honourable Artillery Company officers Military personnel from Kent People educated at Dover College People from Henfield People from Whitstable Place of death missing Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Wardens of Greyfriars, Oxford